Celebrating 135 Years of Shared Ministry
On Saturday, April 24, we held our first-ever virtual MWC Annual Ministry Celebration, where we celebrated 135 years of conference ministry! We saw evidence of God's mighty work through our shared efforts as we heard about progress towards our vision goals and testimonies from those who have engaged in Equip, Exploring Call, and our immersion experiences.
We were introduced to our two newest church plants, Iglesia Casa de Jubilo (Denver, CO) and Engage South KC (Kansas City, MO), and welcomed three new churches to be voted into membership at Gather 2021: New Life Wichita Covenant (Wichita, KS), Imani Restoration Covenant (Aurora, CO), and Renovate Covenant (Centennial, CO).
It was also a joy to celebrate 10 pastors and chaplains who will be completing their ordination journey in June!
God is doing a great work through our partnership of churches, and we are grateful to celebrate his faithfulness throughout this past year and in 135 years of ministry across the Midwest. Videos and handouts from the event are available on our website.
 A big shout out to Community Covenant in Omaha, NE, for setting up our Zoom studio and running sound and technology throughout the event!
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Mark your calendars!
136th Annual Ministry Celebration
Christ Community Covenant Church, Arvada, CO
April 29-30, 2022
We look forward to seeing you there!
The Deeply Formed Life with Rich Villo das
The ECC's Develop Leaders ministry priority is providing two opportunities for Covenant pastors to hear from Rich Villodas as he shares about disciplines presented in his book, The Deeply Formed Life. We believe this resource is timely for our pastors who are exhausted and in need of some new rhythms to re-energize and deepen their walk with Christ. Register for one of the offerings below:
Planning is underway for this year's fall pastor retreats, so be sure to put these dates on your calendars! The Ministerial Association will again be hosting both an eastern and a western retreat in 2021.
- Western - October 19, LifeSpring Cov, Loveland, CO (one-day event)
- Eastern - November 2-4, Carol Joy Holling Retreat Center, Ashland, NE
Be on the lookout for registration materials this summer!
Gather ‘21 facilitates annual Covenant connections through the 135th Covenant Annual Meeting, Ministerium Annual Meeting and Vocation Development, and the Ordination Service. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year’s connections will be held virtually, June 22-26. Registration and event details available here.
As your church's delegates prepare for Gather 2021, we know there are many questions around proposed agenda items and the potential for limited discussion due to the virtual meeting format. Below are some informational sessions to share with your delegates as they seek to make informed decisions at this year's gathering.
Resolution to Repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery
The ECC is hosting the following informational sessions:
The MWC is hosting a session on the resolution specific to our conference with Curtis Ivanoff, Superintendent of the Alaska Conference:
SAT Session Postponed
Please note that the Midwest Conference SAT Q&A session on May 24 with ECC President John Wenrich and Executive Director of Ministry Development Angela Yee has been postponed at this time.
Sankofa is an invitation to understand race as a critical component of our Christian discipleship. This relational journey traces the history of race in the U.S. and tangibly equips believers to begin living into the Church's mission to be ambassadors of reconciliation in a divided world. Facilitators will be writer and speaker Nilwona Nowlin and David Swanson, Pastor of New Community Covenant Church (Bronzeville) in Chicago and author of Rediscipling the White Church.
Fee is $425*/person. Space is limited, and seats will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis. Your seat will be guaranteed upon receipt of your registration and $200* deposit, due by August 1, 2021. Remaining balance is due by September 15, 2021.
Registrants are encouraged to arrange their trip partners and register together. However, the MWC is available to help with partner recruitment, as needed. Due to the nature of the trip, please note that each partnership must consist of one African American individual and one non-African American individual (but of the same gender).
MWC Staff Announcement
 We are excited to announce Jim Candy as Adjunct Director of Church Planting for the Midwest Conference. Jim serves as the US Central Regional Director for Stadia, a global church planting organization. In his work with Stadia, Jim will also collaborate with MWC pastors and staff to identify church planters who may be compatible with the Covenant. Stadia and the Covenant enjoy a strategic partnership, and we believe the synergy from this partnership will enhance our capacity for starting new churches in the years ahead. Jim is no stranger to Covenant church planting. In 2013, he co-planted Ascent Community Church (ECC), in Louisville, CO. He also serves as a coach and trainer with ECC church planting.
Prayer is essential to the kingdom work we do here in the Midwest. With this in mind, we invite you to join us for a Day of Prayer on July 14 from 11 am-1 pm CT. You are welcome to join the Zoom call at any time throughout the event to engage in prayer with leaders from across the region. If you are unable to join the call, we encourage you to set aside time to pray individually.
Big Changes at Covenant Cedars Bible Camp
After 21 years of leadership, Dan Buhr is retiring as Executive Director of Covenant Cedars Bible Camp. Dan will continue on through the summer in a part-time capacity in this season of transition. We are grateful for Dan's many years of faithful ministry and look forward to honoring him in the fall. Be on the lookout for celebration details!
 We are excited to welcome RJ Bacani as the new Executive Director! RJ has been part of Covenant Cedars for many years as a camper, summer staffer, youth pastor, and year-round staff member. Originally from Omaha, NE, he first started on full-time staff as the Creative Ministry Director in 2015, then pursued youth ministry in Chicago and Omaha. For the last three years, RJ has served as the Director of Ministries for the camp. He and his wife, Ashley, look forward to what God has in store for Covenant Cedars in this new season of ministry.
Unite for Hope
 Gathering together is a significant part of the ethos of the ECC. But in the midst of the pandemic, that has been extremely difficult to do safely. Yet we still want to make it happen, especially for our young people who crave connection with others. To that end, on April 28, many youth groups participated in a virtual event called Unite for Hope. The event was produced by the ECC's Make and Deepen Disciples mission priority and featured testimonies from ECC students, as well as a message from Maurice Cox, Teaching Pastor at Ascent Community Church (ECC) in Louisville, CO. Though this was a virtual event, many youth groups across our conference were able to safely host in-person watch parties! Content is still available to view and would be great to use with your students if you haven’t already done so. Be sure to check it out!
-- Jim Eaton, MWC Youth Network Leader
Unite 2022 Update
While the future for Covenant youth is bright and hopeful, the ECC has come to the difficult decision that moving forward with a traditional Unite event (formerly CHIC) at the University of Tennessee in the summer of 2022 is not feasible at this time. Read the full letter here
Criminal Justice and the Church
 Criminal Justice and the Church, a course curated by the ECC’s Love Mercy Do Justice mission priority, seeks to provide opportunities to hear from people directly impacted by the criminal justice system, as well as provide resources for you and your community to go deeper in engaging issues around mass incarceration. Sign up at learn.covchurch.org.
Did you know...?
A lot is happening in the Midwest Conference. Catch up on recent changes and events below!
Staff Transitions
Welcome to the MWC!
- Kevin Butcher, Executive Director, Rooted Ministries, Highlands Ranch, CO
- Austin Penn, Pastor, Community Cov, Osage City, KS
We celebrate with those transitioning to new roles within the conference:
- Brad Bergfalk will be serving as Interim Pastor at Arvada Cov, Arvada, CO.
- Nate Powell will be serving as Lead Pastor at Hillcrest Cov, Prairie Village, KS.
We are grateful to the following for their service to the conference and pray God's blessing over them as they transition out of their roles:
- Stacee Eggers, Children's Ministry Director, Arvada Cov, Arvada, CO
- Seth McGregor, Pastor, Courtland Cov, Courtland, KS
- David Chan, Interim Pastor, Community Cov, Osage City, KS
- Jeremy Elseth, Youth Pastor, ECC, Lindsborg, KS
- Dawn Lewis, Youth Pastor, Celebration Cov, Omaha, NE
- Congratulations to Johan Tredoux for passing his Clinical Chaplaincy Board Certification!
 Birth
Congratulations to Jessica and Scott Beystrum on the birth of their son Malachi Ray on April 25! Jessica is currently enrolled in our Equip program. Please join us in praying for this young family as they await the day that Malachi can go home!
Do you have big news to share? Contact office@midwestcovenant.org to have your important event published in the e-News.
Churches working together to transform lives and communities by starting new churches, strengthening existing churches, and developing missional leaders.
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